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FitnessFri, 20 Oct 2017 14:36:28 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.5Combat Runner’s Knee With This Seven-Step Workouthttp://fitnessfilip.com/combat-runners-knee-with-this-seven-step-workout/
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 08:17:57 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/combat-runners-knee-with-this-seven-step-workout/It doesn’t matter if you’re a new runner preparing for a big event like the London Marathon, or a regular pavement-pounder accustomed to training every other day throughout the year – picking up an injury can be a disaster. As the name suggests, runner’s knee is one of the most common running injuries, and it’s

It doesn’t matter if you’re a new runner preparing for a big event like the London Marathon, or a regular pavement-pounder accustomed to training every other day throughout the year – picking up an injury can be a disaster.

As the name suggests, runner’s knee is one of the most common running injuries, and it’s also one of the most annoying to beat once it strikes. According to Michael Harrop, specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist at Pure Sports Medicine, it can account for up to 30% of running injuries and the cause is usually a sudden change in training.

“This injury is usually from overtraining caused by increasing the volume, speed or intensity of the sessions,” says Harrop. “For example, it’s often seen in runners who rapidly change their training when preparing for a big event such as a marathon.”

Runner’s knee is an umbrella term for pain at the front of the knee, which is more accurately labelled Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). It’s easy to assume any pain that arises in the knee is runner’s knee, but it’s worth getting a proper diagnosis before starting your treatment.

“Different conditions can also present in a similar way,” says Harrop. “So getting it diagnosed by a physiotherapist or sports and exercise medicine doctor is essential to ensure you correctly manage the problem.”

Once you do know that it’s runner’s knee you’re dealing with, Harrop recommends following these five-steps to treat it.

De-load. “Reduce stress on the irritated tissues by decreasing your running volume to the level that your pain starts to settle.”

Re-load gradually. “Research from Australia recommends not increasing the training load more than 10% per week in elite level athletes. Returning too fast and too hard will lead to injury, so recondition yourself slowly and allow your body time to adapt.”

Technique. “Good running form does a lot to reduce the impact on your joints and muscles. Getting a professional to assess your form is important.”

Strengthen. “Glutes, calves and quadriceps. Like good technique, strong muscles also help reduce joint loading.”

Runner’s Knee Workout

To help strengthen and condition your body so it is better prepared to deal with the demands of running, and thereby protect against runner’s knee, follow this seven-step workout. Harrop recommends doing two rounds of the following seven exercises three times a week.

1 Roll down

How “Stand tall and curl your head, chest and trunk down, slowly and steadily reaching towards your toes. When you reach your limit, gently tighten your glutes and slowly reverse the direction to curl back up. Think of stacking each segment of your spine on top of one another.”

3 Fire hydrant

How “With a resistance band around your knees stand on one leg with a slightly flexed knee and lift your other leg out to the side slowly, then bring it back again.”

4 Bent knee heel raise

Sets 3 Reps 15 each leg

Why “Bending your knee activates the soleus muscle, which is essential for shock absorption as your foot lands on the ground,” says Harrop.

How “Stand on one leg with your fingertips lightly against the wall for balance. Bend the knee on your standing leg slightly, then raise and lower on your toes, keeping your knee bent. To make it more difficult, hold a weight in your hand.”

5 Dead bug

How “Lie on your back holding your legs and arms up, legs bent at 90°. Keep your spine neutral. Slowly stretch one arm above your head and the opposite leg out straight, and then return to the starting position. Repeat on the other side. Keep your abdominals engaged and controlling the movement, and do not allow your back to arch.”

6 Elevated single-leg glute bridge

How “Lie on your back with one foot on a low bench holding the opposite leg straight out. Driving through the heel, squeeze your glutes and lift your hips up as high as possible without arching your back. Hold for one second then slowly lower.”

7 Hip flexor stretch

How “In a high kneeling position (on your knees with your body vertical and back straight), place one foot on a low bench in front of you and a pad under your knee. Keep your pelvis tucked under your body to focus the stretch on your anterior thigh.”

]]>Greggs Have Created A Diet Plan And Yes It Includes Sausage Rollshttp://fitnessfilip.com/greggs-have-created-a-diet-plan-and-yes-it-includes-sausage-rolls/
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 06:33:55 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/greggs-have-created-a-diet-plan-and-yes-it-includes-sausage-rolls/You might think the idea of eating Greggs products for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for an entire month was the premise of the sequel to Super Size Me, and it wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption. But it couldn’t be more wrong, because Greggs – ubiquitous bakery, national institution and purveyor of the finest

You might think the idea of eating Greggs products for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for an entire month was the premise of the sequel to Super Size Me, and it wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption. But it couldn’t be more wrong, because Greggs – ubiquitous bakery, national institution and purveyor of the finest sausage rolls on the high street – has created a diet plan.

The Minimise Me plan maps out three meals and a snack for every day of the week, and is designed to be repeated for four weeks in a row for the full fat-busting effect. Greggs, which enlisted a dietitian to create the plan, claims you will shift up to 2lb (0.9kg) a week by following it, although the amount of pounds that swell Greggs’s coffers will naturally be far greater.

Video of Minimise Me – the full story

RECOMMENDED: How To Lose Weight Fast

In a bid to avoid being left behind in an increasingly health-conscious world, Greggs has created a range of products to meet the demands of today’s gym-going, protein-shake-swilling, quinoa-munching consumer. The Greggs Balanced Choice menu features salads, sandwiches, bakes and many more products that all come in at under 400 calories.

These products make up the bulk of the menu on the Minimise Me plan, but there is still room for the occasional sausage roll or slice of pizza. No steak bakes though, which is a shame.

VICE’s food website Munchies checked the credentials of the Minimise Me plan with dietitian and British Dietetic Association spokesperson Duane Mellor. The results were mixed.

Mellor says the diet should work in principle because it’s energy-controlled, so you should be in calorie deficit if you follow it (expending more calories than you take in – the fundamental basis of eating for fat loss). However, he doesn’t recommend it if you’re looking to eat a healthy diet in the long term.

“You’re unlikely to meet your five-a-day on several of the days,” Mellor told Munchies. “The other thing to look at if you’re doing it long term is the amount of fibre. I would think things like the sausage roll and the bun for the egg roll are made with white flour and unlikely to provide a lot of fibre.”

There’s also only one sausage roll on the entire plan. No-one will be able to go into Greggs that often and only buy one sausage roll a week.

]]>Burn One Pint’s Worth Of Calories With This Ten-Minute Workouthttp://fitnessfilip.com/burn-one-pints-worth-of-calories-with-this-ten-minute-workout/
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 12:18:06 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/burn-one-pints-worth-of-calories-with-this-ten-minute-workout/Giving up alcohol for a month can reveal an awful lot about the effect booze has on your life. From getting a better night’s sleep to finding extra motivation during the day, cutting out alcohol brings with it a raft of benefits – and if you are currently in the middle of a teetotal month

Giving up alcohol for a month can reveal an awful lot about the effect booze has on your life. From getting a better night’s sleep to finding extra motivation during the day, cutting out alcohol brings with it a raft of benefits – and if you are currently in the middle of a teetotal month as part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s Go Sober For October campaign, you might be losing weight too.

That’s because alcohol contains calories – a whole load of them. According to the Drinkaware units and calorie calculator, one pint of 4% beer contains 182 calories, and a 175ml glass of wine has 159. Fans of spirits don’t get off lightly either – one 25ml shot of a 40% spirit contains 61 calories and that’s before you count the mixer.

It can be easy to ignore numbers on a webpage, however, so Macmillan Cancer Support enlisted personal trainer Georgie Okell to create a workout that would burn the calories contained in a single pint of lager (the amount of calories you burn may vary, obviously).

You might think one pint’s worth of calories can’t be that hard to shift. You’d be wrong. This workout might only last ten minutes, but it’s hard as heck. Do it once, then carry that memory with you to the pub. The next time you’re weighing up whether to have one more for the road or not – it might help you decide.

One Pint Workout

The workout involves a circuit of six different exercises. Do each move for 30sec, then move straight on to the next one. Once you’ve done all six, take a 30sec break, then do the circuit again. Do three rounds in total, which will take ten minutes.

Video of Go Sober for October – One Pint Work Out with Georgie Okell

1 High knees

Throw your hands in the air and run on the spot, lifting your knees up towards your chest as high as you can.

2 Jump squat

Drop down into a squat, with your thighs parallel to the ground, then explode up into the air and raise your hands above your head. Land softly and repeat.

3 Mountain climber

Get into a press-up position. Drive one knee up towards your chest then, as you return it to the starting position, bring the other knee up. Keep the pace high as you alternate legs for 30sec.

4 Bicycle crunch

Lie on the ground with your legs raised slightly off the ground and your hands placed lightly on the side off your head. Raise one knee towards your chest, twisting your torso as you do so the opposite elbow moves towards the knee. Then repeat the movement with the opposite limbs. Keep alternating sides for 30sec.

5 Plank jack

Get into a plank position then jump your feet out to either side in the manner of a jumping jack. Jump them back to the centre and repeat.

6 Burpee

The big finish. From a standing start, drop down and kick your legs out behind you into a press-up position. Do a press-up, then jump your feet back up towards your chest, stand up, and jump off the ground. Repeat.

]]>The Latest Weight-Loss Tactic Is… A Crinkly Plate?http://fitnessfilip.com/the-latest-weight-loss-tactic-is-a-crinkly-plate/
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 11:17:33 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/the-latest-weight-loss-tactic-is-a-crinkly-plate/How we perceive food can play a big part in the amount we eat. Studies have shown that using smaller plates, or plates that are a different colour from your food, can result in eating less. There’s also evidence to suggest that eating more slowly makes people more easily able to recognise when they are

How we perceive food can play a big part in the amount we eat. Studies have shown that using smaller plates, or plates that are a different colour from your food, can result in eating less. There’s also evidence to suggest that eating more slowly makes people more easily able to recognise when they are actually full.

RECOMMENDED: How To Trick Yourself Into Eating Less

Graphic designer Nauris Cinovics, from the Art Academy of Latvia, is now aiming to put that research into practice with his crinkly plate. The ridges on the plate mean that it holds less food that a normal plate, but the overall portion looks like it is the same size, thus – in theory – tricking the brain into thinking your hunger has been satisfied. The plate is also made from clear glass, which again should make the food on the plate look bigger than it is.

There is a second advantage to the crinkly plate, which is that eating will become an altogether trickier affair because you have to fish food out of the troughs. The minor annoyance effectively slows down the speed with which you can shovel food into your gob.

To delay the passage of food to belly further, Cinovics has also designed heavier cutlery, with each fork, knife and spoon coming in at 1.3kg. While this isn’t going to turn mealtimes into a biceps workout, Cinovics claims it slows you down, giving the body more time to recognise that you are full and stopping you from overindulging.

“We tested this and it took 11 minutes to finish a meal with this cutlery rather than seven minutes,” said Cinovics.

“Our brain takes at least 20 minutes to receive the message that we should feel full, so if we eat really fast we think we need more food. If we eat slowly the message gets through sooner so we eat less.”

Cinovics unveiled his plate at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, and is now planning to test it on 100 people. While you’re waiting for it to hit crockery shelves in a shop near you, try eating off smaller plates to reduce portion size without feeling short-changed by your meals.

]]>The 5:2 Diet On Trialhttp://fitnessfilip.com/the-52-diet-on-trial/
Wed, 18 Oct 2017 11:06:02 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/the-52-diet-on-trial/It’s been over two years since the 5:2 diet first hit bookshelves, kick-starting an intermittent fasting fad that’s swept the mainstream media and attracted a host of A-list devotees, from Beyoncé to Benedict Cumberbatch. But does it actually work? How hard is it to stick to? And most importantly, can it help you lose weight?

It’s been over two years since the 5:2 diet first hit bookshelves, kick-starting an intermittent fasting fad that’s swept the mainstream media and attracted a host of A-list devotees, from Beyoncé to Benedict Cumberbatch. But does it actually work? How hard is it to stick to? And most importantly, can it help you lose weight?

The Theory

The most popular form of fasting diet. On two days a week you eat 600 calories; on the other five you have your normal food intake. The principle is that it’s easier to burn fat because your body is in a post-absorptive state where your insulin levels are low. There’s also some evidence that, by mimicking a “starvation” state, fasting can provide the same protective effects against dementia and cancer as extreme calorie restriction, without the unpleasantness.

The Good

As diets go, the 5:2 plan is very simple to understand and no specific food groups are demonised.

“Some people find that sticking to a calorie controlled diet for just two days a week is a lot easier than following it for a whole week,” says dietitian Chloe Miles of the British Dietetic Association.

There have also been some promising results from studies on intermittent fasting.

“A few studies have found that it achieves a similar amount of weight loss to a standard calorie-controlled diet,” says Miles. “And some studies have suggested that the 5:2 diet may improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of obesity-related cancers, such as breast cancer.”

The Bad

The lack of guidance on what constitutes a healthy diet can torpedo weight-loss efforts.

“Some people interpret the diet to mean that they can eat as much as they like on non-fast days,” says Miles. “This is not going to result in weight loss and is not a healthy approach to eating.”

Meanwhile, fasting is not a pleasant experience. “On fast days people may be irritable, feel dizzy and find it difficult to concentrate,” says Miles.

While there are some studies that support the 5:2 diet, the evidence is not conclusive.

“The studies that have looked at the 5:2 diet are limited and we do not know the effects of following this diet in the long term,” says Miles. “Many of the studies only include a small number of participants or are animal studies.”

The Expert Verdict

If you plan your diet carefully, intermittent fasting might well help you lose weight, as will any calorie-restricting plan. But the 5:2 diet is not something that Miles would recommend.

“For some people it may work and they may be able to follow it in a healthy, balanced way. For other people it may exacerbate disordered eating and lead to an obsession with dieting and food.

“Due to the limited evidence base at present, I don’t think it should be recommended as the first approach to losing weight.”

The Experience

To find out what the 5:2 diet is really like, we asked one writer to try it for 28 days, and compared it to four other writers trying different four-week diets. Click the link below to find out how they got on.

]]>Adidas UltraBoost All Terrain Running Shoe Reviewhttp://fitnessfilip.com/adidas-ultraboost-all-terrain-running-shoe-review/
Tue, 17 Oct 2017 11:02:16 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/adidas-ultraboost-all-terrain-running-shoe-review/Winter can be a tough time for running shoes, especially given the current trend towards knitted uppers, which are comfortable to wear but do little to prevent water soaking through to your foot when it’s wet out. To combat this Adidas has tweaked the ever-popular UltraBoost to make it more suitable for winter running, with

Winter can be a tough time for running shoes, especially given the current trend towards knitted uppers, which are comfortable to wear but do little to prevent water soaking through to your foot when it’s wet out.

To combat this Adidas has tweaked the ever-popular UltraBoost to make it more suitable for winter running, with a thin film over the Primeknit to repel water, a high collar to prevent water entering the shoe from above and a stronger-gripping outsole with deeper lugs.

I didn’t have the chance to take the shoe out on a truly stormy day, but the new upper coped well with the perennial mild drizzle, repelling rain and not soaking up enough water from puddles to reach the foot.

To test the upper more strenuously, I poured half a cup of water over the shoe while at work (attracting several funny looks from colleagues). Impressively, most ran off onto the office floor, but some did penetrate through to the foot. So the All Terrain will probably not keep you dry if you plough through every puddle you see or run during a particularly heavy downpour, but that would be asking a lot of it.

Adding a raised collar is always risky because when running shoes extend their collar towards the ankle, the extra fabric has an unwelcome tendency to rub against the achilles and produce blisters. I am happy to report this was not the case with the UltraBoost All Terrain, though it was more comfortable to wear it with socks that extended up past the collar, rather than with the fabric of the shoe in direct contact with the skin.

I’ve always found that the Continental Rubber outsole on all UltraBoost shoes offered impressive grip on roads and pavements in any weather, and unsurprisingly this is still the case with the deeper lugs on the All Terrain. It also handled the mild mud of city park paths pretty well. It’s not a shoe to take for a day on the trails, but if you want to take an off-road detour through a local park or run on icy pavements, the extra grip will be welcome.

RECOMMENDED: The Best Trail-Running Shoes For 2017

All the changes on the UltraBoost All Terrain do add some weight, with the shoe weighing in at 338g (UK size 8.5). It does feel substantial on the foot, mostly in a reassuring manner rather than being uncomfortably heavy, but it’s more suited to everyday training than race day.

As with almost all the shoes in the Boost line-up, the All Terrain is also stylish enough to wear when not running – and given the hefty £169.95 price, you’re going to want to wear it as much as possible to justify the expense.

There are some useful adaptations for winter weather on the All Terrain, and the Boost midsole, as always, makes for a bouncy, comfortable ride. I preferred running in the regular UltraBoost or the PureBoost DPR, both of which are lighter (especially the DPR), cheaper and aren’t going to fall apart at the first sign of rain, but the All Terrain is another solid addition to the Boost family.

]]>What Does “Overfat” Mean?http://fitnessfilip.com/what-does-overfat-mean/
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 14:22:19 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/what-does-overfat-mean/If you’ve spotted the alarming headlines that claim almost 90% of men and 75% of women in the developed world are “overfat” you’re probably wondering what overfat means and how it’s different to being overweight or obese. The simplest definition of being overfat is carrying too much body fat. Regardless of your overall weight, if

If you’ve spotted the alarming headlines that claim almost 90% of men and 75% of women in the developed world are “overfat” you’re probably wondering what overfat means and how it’s different to being overweight or obese.

The simplest definition of being overfat is carrying too much body fat. Regardless of your overall weight, if your body fat percentage is too high, you are overfat, and that’s linked to a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The risk is especially high if the excess fat is around your belly area – which it often is.

Being overweight or obese, on the other hand, refers to the Body Mass Index (BMI) categories which are based on height and weight. This can lead to people being labelled obese when in fact they are in cracking shape – any musclebound hunk will be too heavy for their height and considered unhealthy under BMI. You can also fall in a healthy BMI range and still carry dangerous levels of excess fat, for instance a tall person with a pot belly that’s otherwise skinny. That’s why we’ve got this new term – it’s a more useful individual measure of your health (BMI remains very useful for scientists working at the population level).

The new research that has pushed the term overfat into the limelight was published in the journal Frontiers of Public Health. It found that the percentage of people that are overfat in the developed world is distressingly high, with 86.6% of men in the UK considered overfat.

If you’re prodding at your stomach right now trying to work out if that’s you, a simple way to check if you are carrying too much fat around your midriff is the string test. Measure your height with a piece of string, then take that length, fold it in half and see if it’s long enough to go around your waist, keeping the string halfway between your hip bone and your lowest rib. If it isn’t long enough, then you are in the at risk group.

RECOMMENDED: How To Lose Belly Fat Fast

Simpler still is to keep an eye on your waist circumference, something we covered during Men’s Health Week. Measure just below the belly button and if it’s over 94cm (37in) that’s bad and if it’s over 102cm (40in) you’re in the high risk zone.

If you want a more exact picture of the amount of fat in your entire body then you can measure your body fat percentage at home with callipers or smart scales, but the results can be a bit mixed in terms of accuracy.

A healthy body fat percentage for men aged 20-39 is generally considered to be between 8% and 20%, and for men aged 40-59 it’s 11%-22%. If you’re especially worried about your body fat percentage it might be worth looking into a more exact measurement than you can get at home through hydrostatic weighing or DEXA, although these methods can be expensive. It’s probably savvier to do the string test instead and put the money you saved towards a pair of running shoes or a gym membership.

]]>Healthy Eating Tips For When Life Ruins Your Best Intentionshttp://fitnessfilip.com/healthy-eating-tips-for-when-life-ruins-your-best-intentions/
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 09:25:41 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/healthy-eating-tips-for-when-life-ruins-your-best-intentions/The Morning Rush The alarm misfired – or never got set – and there’s no time for breakfast. You’re going to have to grab on the go. The fix “In a scenario like this, it pays to plan ahead,” says Myles Hopper, Precision Nutrition coach and author of Mindful Chef. “If you haven’t got an

The Morning Rush

The alarm misfired – or never got set – and there’s no time for breakfast. You’re going to have to grab on the go.

The fix “In a scenario like this, it pays to plan ahead,” says Myles Hopper, Precision Nutrition coach and author of Mindful Chef. “If you haven’t got an easy breakfast option on hand, at least have an idea of which local cafés and coffee shops can do you some scrambled eggs.”

The Biscuit Barrel

Your office has a giant tin of biscuits prominently displayed, and it’s ruining your will to eat better.

The fix Keep it out of sight, or at least further away. Nobody’s going to object if you shift the tin out of your eyeline – and in a study from Cornell University in the US, workers ate 125 fewer calories when a dish of sweets was moved two metres further from them.

The Pressure Cooker

You’re stressed, under pressure and deadlines are looming, so you reach for the quick-fix sugar hit.

The fix “If you know you eat when you’re stressed, make sure you’ve got healthier options on hand for those times,” says Hopper. “Celery works great as a spoon to eat peanut butter out of the jar, for instance.” Honestly, it’s better than it sounds.

RECOMMENDED: Low-Calorie Snacks

The Tricky Restaurant

It’s an office lunch, and attendance is strongly suggested… but the choice of burger bar isn’t exactly ideal.

The fix Use If-Then planning. Instead of vague goals, set concrete ones ahead of time: if the dessert menu comes round, then I will order coffee, for example. In one study, this technique helped 91 % of volunteers stick to a fitness regime compared with 39% of those who didn’t have a plan.

The Longest Day

The fix Never say never. Use what psychology researcher Nicole Mead calls “postponement strategy”: instead of trying to stand firm, tell yourself you’ll have the pizza on Friday/next week/at the end of the month. You don’t have to stand firm forever – just one day at a time.

]]>The Benefits Of A High-Protein Diethttp://fitnessfilip.com/the-benefits-of-a-high-protein-diet/
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 06:37:30 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/the-benefits-of-a-high-protein-diet/In a world where it’s possible to get contradictory opinions on almost every bit of dietary advice, one food group reigns supreme in its ability to unite all experts behind it: protein. Its vital role in building and maintaining muscle means that anyone who’s exercising regularly needs to consider their protein intake carefully to ensure

In a world where it’s possible to get contradictory opinions on almost every bit of dietary advice, one food group reigns supreme in its ability to unite all experts behind it: protein. Its vital role in building and maintaining muscle means that anyone who’s exercising regularly needs to consider their protein intake carefully to ensure they’re eating enough.

But protein’s power goes well beyond fuelling massive muscle gains – even if you’re not an exercise junkie, increasing the amount of protein you eat can help you lose weight. We spoke to British Dietetic Association dietitian Dimple Thakrar (nutritionwithdimple.com) about the power of protein.

Why do we need to eat protein?

Before we look at the benefits of eating more of the stuff, let’s find out why protein is needed.

“Protein is the only food group that provides us with the nine essential amino acids to make muscle tissue,” says Thakrar.

“Without those amino acids, we would not build or make muscle tissue, resulting in muscle wasting and malnutrition.”

How much protein should you eat?

The amount of protein you need to eat each day depends on your activity level and bodyweight. According to Thakrar, if you are sedentary you should eat 0.8-1g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day. If you’re exercising regularly you need to up your intake to 1-1.5g per kg of bodyweight a day.

How does eating more protein help you lose weight?

It’s often said that calories are calories, no matter what the source of them is, and that’s broadly true – if you eat far more calories than you burn off, you’re not going to lose weight regardless of the source. However, the body deals with different food groups in different ways, and its method of processing protein is what makes it smart to eat more of it.

“Protein and carbohydrates have roughly the same number of calories per gram, but because protein foods leave you feeling fuller for longer you are likely to eat less overall,” says Thakrar.

“Foods rich in protein like meat, fish, dairy, nuts and lentils all take longer to digest – up to four hours before it leaves your stomach – so they leave you feeling fuller for longer than other nutrient groups like carbohydrates, which can leave your stomach much quicker, depending on the type.

RECOMMENDED: High-Protein Foods

“Your body’s metabolic rate also increases significantly more after you eat protein than after you eat carbs or fat, which also contributes to weight loss.”

Are there risks to eating too much protein?

After reading the last answer there’s every chance you’re halfway through a steak already, but hold your horses, there’s always a downside.

“There are risks with eating too much of any food group or food,” says Thakrar, “and excessive protein can increase the amount of work your kidneys have to do to filter out the amino acids. For some vulnerable groups, like the frail elderly, it can be harmful to health.”

For healthy, active adults, though, there’s no amount of protein that should cause problems. However, there is a limit to the amount of protein it’s worth eating in one sitting.

“Eating more than 30g of protein at any one sitting is pointless,” says Thakrar. “Your body will just pee out the extra amino acid because it will take only what it needs. It has no benefit to muscle building.”

High-Protein Diets

The Dukan Diet

One of the most popular high-protein diets out there, the Dukan diet is based around four phases, the first of which involves only eating protein. The next three phases gradually increase the amount of carbs and other food groups, but the focus is still very much on protein.

The Verdict

Given the Draconian approach of the Dukan diet to food groups other than protein, it might work in the short-term but it’s not something to stick with for long.

“There is evidence to suggest that a high-protein/low-carb diet can achieve weight loss,” says Thakrar, “but these diets tend to be very restrictive and omit healthy foods, so they are not sustainable for life.

“Also, this diet may not be suitable for people with kidney or liver issues. Generally, I would not recommend it for long-term sustainable weight loss, especially as it may be nutritionally deficient.”

The Paleo Diet

Eat like your hunter-gatherer ancestors by avoiding processed foods as much as possible. Unprocessed meats, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruit are all on the menu, while processed grains, dairy and any foods humans started eating after the Neolithic revolution are out, although there is some debate on the specifics of what’s allowed.

The idea is that humans are not well-adapted to eating processed foods, and should eat only foods that would have been available to them in the Paleolithic era.

The Verdict

The premise of the Paleo diet is unsound – we are not biologically identical to our Paleolithic ancestors and live very different, and far longer, lives – but following it can still yield positive results.

“There are currently fewer than ten studies that show promising results with the Paleo diet in terms of controlling blood sugars and weight loss, particularly for people with diabetes,” says Thakrar.

“The studies are few and conducted on very small numbers, and therefore more research needs to be done before we can advocate this as a mainstream approach.

“However, some of the advantages of this diet are that it increases people’s awareness of what they are consuming, and encourages the reduction of processed foods and more home cooking with ingredients in their natural form. This results in greater fruit and vegetable consumption and a reduction in salt and sugar by default.

“Currently I wouldn’t advocate it for the general public, but if a client of mine was happy and getting sustainable results while still ensuring their diet was nutritionally balanced on the Paleo diet, I would leave that to personal choice.”

]]>The 20 Best Fat-Burning Foodshttp://fitnessfilip.com/the-20-best-fat-burning-foods/
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 00:58:59 +0000http://fitnessfilip.com/the-20-best-fat-burning-foods/Here’s the reality: it doesn’t matter how hard you train in the gym if you don’t put the same time, effort and focus into what you do in the kitchen. The old saying that “you can’t out-train a bad diet” is something of a cliché, but like many clichés it’s rooted in truth. If you

Here’s the reality: it doesn’t matter how hard you train in the gym if you don’t put the same time, effort and focus into what you do in the kitchen. The old saying that “you can’t out-train a bad diet” is something of a cliché, but like many clichés it’s rooted in truth. If you want to make big changes to your body fat percentage – and as quickly as possible – then you need to start thinking more about mealtimes.

When you want to lose body fat you need to cut down on foods you know will add to the size of your gut rather than shrink it – so you eliminate alcohol, takeaways and sugar-packed snacks. But which foods should you be eating more of in order to shift belly fat faster? And why do certain foods help your body burn off its fat stores rather than add to them? All will be explained with our list of the very best fat-burning foods, so fill up your shopping basket and start eating smarter.

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1. Onions contain chromium, an element that helps your body regulate blood-sugar levels so you don’t suffer energy slumps and reach for fattening sugary treats to fill the void. They are also high in quercetin, a type of flavonoid that can inhibit inflammation.

2. Spinach contains plenty of the essential mineral manganese for an effective metabolism that helps mobilise fat for energy. It also boasts lots of iron for healthy blood and calcium to repair and strengthen bone tissue. Unlike lots of other veg, we actually recommend boiling or steaming spinach because it helps free up unwanted acids, allowing them to leach into the water, and it also helps bring out a sweeter taste. Just make sure you boil for no more than a minute.

3. Sourdough bread. All right, carbs from bread might not be the best option to whittle down your beer belly. But if you’re a fiend for the dough – and, frankly, it’s hard to get through a day without encountering bread at some point – this variety is your best bet. It helps improve gut health that will aid digestion and reduce the amount of other foods you eat being stored as fat, and it’s full of air holes so you usually end up consuming less overall.

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4. Cinnamon is another spice with fat-burning effects, thanks to a compound called cinnamaldehyde. As well as giving cinnamon its flavour, the compound stimulates the release of stored fat so it can be easily metabolised, according to research published in the Journal Of Nutritional Science And Vitaminology. Add it to black coffee for a pre-workout fat-burning drink, or to yogurt for a belly-busting pudding.

5. Apples contain antioxidant polyphenols, which help to prevent your body from storing fat, according to a German study. There’s also evidence that sharper varieties – like the Granny Smith – aid the production of “good” gut bacteria, helping to keep hunger in check.

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6. Sweet potatoes are a low-GI food that helps you avoid fat-promoting spikes in blood sugar. Use them to make potato wedges: Whack them on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, then cook for 25 minutes (or until they’re crispy).

7. Grapefruit can keep your belly at bay. In a 12-week study overweight subjects were given half a grapefruit to eat before their three daily meals. After three months the fruit eaters had lost 1.6kg, while a placebo group lost just 0.3kg, according to the Journal Of Medicinal Food. It is thought that compounds in grapefruit prevent insulin levels from rising too high, and stable levels allow better fat burning.

8. Green tea compounds in the tea-house favourite called catechins help speed up your metabolism. They do this by reducing your levels of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltranferase, which degrades the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine. Too much science? Don’t worry about it: just try to get two or three cups a day.

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9. Yoghurt is another great food to add to your shopping list. One study published in the journal Obesity Research found that people who consume around 1,200mg of calcium per day from dairy lost 64% more body fat than those who ate half that amount. Even better, most of that fat loss was from the belly. The weight-loss effect was greatest in those who were following a calorie-controlled nutrition plan.

11. Oats are full of fibre and low in calories so a bowl of porridge in the morning is perfect for getting your metabolism into gear and preventing unnecessary snacking by keeping you feeling full for a long time.

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12. Coconut oil should take pride of place in your cupboard because it’s high in medium-chain triglycerides, chemical compounds that encourage the body to burn fat for energy. Cook with it, or put a spoonful in coffee instead of grabbing breakfast on the go.

13. Oily fish influences a hormone in your body called leptin, which directly affects your metabolism’s choice to store calories as fat or burn them off. Tinned tuna, mackerel, salmon and sardines aren’t just convenient, they also have one of the best protein-to-weight ratios of any food. Smaller oily fish like sardines are better than tuna because they contain more omega 3s and less mercury. Use them in salads, or on toast or crackers. They’re a perfect post-workout meal.

14. Strawberries are rich in polyphenols, helping improve blood sugar control and reduce fat storage and are also high in vitamin C, which helps clear the stress hormone cortisol after exercise to speed up recovery.

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15. Eggs are full of healthy proteins that the body expends a lot of energy trying to process. They’re also packed full of healthy cholesterol and actively reduce the level of bad cholesterol in your blood.

16. Avocados encourage fat burning thanks to their rich supply of monounsaturated fats. They also contain mannoheptulose, a near-unpronounceable compound that inhibits the breakdown of glucose, aiding fat loss in the process.

17. Lean meats contain protein, which has a thermogenic effect, causing your body to burn more calories to digest it. The effect is greatest with meats that are low in fat such as chicken or turkey.

18. Blueberries are super-efficient fat fighters. A study in the US discovered that they can disrupt the development of fat cells by up to 73%.

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19. Peas are a fantastic source of fibre: 100g contains 5g, as well as 5g of protein – which will keep you feeling full and reduce sweet cravings – and vitamins A, B6, C and K, iron, copper and zinc.

20. Cayenne pepper won’t just spice up your meals. It has a duo of benefits to help your wage war on your belly. First, consuming cayenne pepper can spike your metabolic rate, according to the Clinical Nutrition journal, meaning you burn more calories without doing anything else. Second, the spice can improve rates of fat oxidation, meaning your body is better equipped to burn fat cells as fuel, according to the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition.